Will support ‘disappointed’ employees over pay panel: Congress

New Delhi, June 30 (IANS) The Congress on Thursday said that central government employees are disappointed with the 7th Central Pay Commission recommendations and it will support them if they go on strike on the issue in July.

“The central government employees, including from the armed forces, are frustrated and disappointed with the government decision to not improve on the seventh Pay Commission recommendations which are the worst in the history of pay panels in India till date,” Congress spokesperson Ajay Maken said in a statement here.

“It is unfortunate that government employees, given 40 per cent hike in their respective salaries by previous governments, have now been recommended only 14.27 per cent increase. This is unjust and humiliating for the beneficiaries,” he added.

“The federation of government employees, which represents the staff of the Indian Railways, civilian employee of ordnance factories, Post and Telegraph, has decided to go on a nationwide strike from July 11, to express their resentment. We support them and hope that good sense will prevail and the government of India will review its decision,” Maken said.

The opposition party leader said the fifth and sixth Pay Commissions recommended 20 per cent salary increases but the governments of the day hiked it to 40 per cent.

However, Maken said, the National Democratic Alliance government has accepted the report in toto by hiking the basic salaries by just 14.27 per cent without giving any respite to inflation-hit employees.

The party said all seven pay commissions since Independence were set by either the Congress or Congress-led governments, and added that the then NDA government during its first tenure in 2003 refused to set up the sixth pay panel.